Moses was attending his
father-in-law's sheep, an occupation that as I said was not the
highest on any social agenda. He was at the bottom of his career.
But he was faithful in what he did and he might have even accepted
his lot in life. Then one day God appeared to him and told him to
go back to Egypt and free His people from the Egyptian slave
drivers.
I think Moses had the fright of his
life! The Bible even says that Moses hid his face in his hands, too
afraid to even look at God once he had realized that it was Him. It
is clear from his reaction that he never expected God to personally
appear unto him. He didn't know that he actually had a higher
calling than being a shepherd in Midian.
The day had finally come when Moses
was to step out into his destiny and he was scared out of his wits.
He immediately thought of every excuse he could find! And when God
had an answer to every excuse, he pleaded in utter desperation that
God should send someone else:
"But Moses again pleaded, 'Lord,
please! Send someone else." Exodus 4:13
It might seem mindboggling to us
when we read this. Here Moses is presented with a once in a
lifetime opportunity. He will be the hero who saves his people out
of Egypt and he would become the one people will still talk about
more than 4 000 years later. He would become famous beyond
comprehension and will have the honor of working side by side with
the God of the Universe. And here he turns Him down! He thinks of
every excuse in the book to get out of his mission. He was in a
comfort zone. It wasn't much, but he had become used to it and
comfortable in his ways. He didn't want anything to disturb it. It
is staggering when you think about it.
But we do the same, don't we? We
wait years for our breakthrough to come and when it finally does,
we are scared to bits! Or worse yet, we are so comfortable in the
place that we are in that we don't want to move out.
I remember Joyce Meyer (the world
famous bible teacher) once said that she started out with a small
bible study group at her house. Later she moved to her church and
had a big following there. And then one day the Lord told her that
it was time to move out. She was very reluctant to go. She was in a
comfort zone, everyone knew her and she was happy there. She made
all sorts of excuses. And then one day the Holy Spirit spoke to her
and said that she can stay there, but He was moving out. She had
such a fright that she moved out in faith with Him. And she never
looked back; the Lord has blessed her beyond measure, because she
moved when He told her to.
When the Lord says it is time to
come out of the wilderness unto bigger things you better move. You
won't be sorry. You will definitely be sorry if you don't!
Thank you Lord that You are so
patient with us. Please help us to move when You tell us to. Give
us the courage to step out in faith. We love You and want to honor
You. Amen